My speedo is playing up and i just wondered if anyone else had had a similar problem in the past. Just had my bike MOT'd and they replaced the speedo cable as it was not working. On my way home i noticed the cable hanging loose and tucked it into the metal bracket which holds it out of the way and now i notice im getting an erratic reading. The speedo flaps all over the place and doesnt read above 55 regardless. Oh no i thought pulled over and slipped it back out of the hooked bracked so it was just hanging like it was before.. carried on riding hoping it would go back to normal again but no dice grandma the needle is flapping all over the place again. I would take it back to the garage but it is not local and i wont be able to get down to the shop within its opening times for a few weeks

im going to have a look at it when i get home and although im not a bike mechanic can get by doing most jobs. Just wondered if anyone else has had similar trouble.. im guessing other than disconnecting the cable and reconnecting it again there is nothing i can do?

 

I could try disconnecting the cable and see if it spins up ok but as my speedo hasnt died and is still trying to wind up flapping all about the place i dont feel this would give me a true indication of what the fault is. The needle is going up it just flaps all over the place between 35-55mph the mileage counter is clicking over but i have no idea if it is giving me a true mileage reading..

i guess other than unplugging it and plugging it back in with my fingers crossed im screwed,

 

You say that the cable has already been replaced. Try replacing the speedo widget down by the front wheel. It is a plastic gear. If it has been stripped or anything it can cause problems. If that doesn't fix it, get new guages.

That happened to me. After 100km/h (60mph) my needle used to start wagging up and down +/- 20 mph. I replaced the cable, widget and the problem kept happening. I found a new guage cluster on ebay for cheap. Turned the old one into a wallhanger that lights up and it hangs in my garage now. Nice night-light

 

Yeah i have been looking at clocks on ebay as a last resort. I took the cable off and gave everything a visual inspection.. Checked the wheel gear was locking and spinning ok with the wheel in motion.

As a final update (and i hope its final) i took it for a long ride this saturday despite the speedo pinging all over the place. Half way to my weekend job i found myself isolated and very alone on a very nice strip of dual carrageway where i tried my last resort before having to replace the clock. Upon giving the bike wide open throttle and clicking right up the box then flapping around like a flag in a strong gale I backed off down to a steady speed and to my suprise the clock was reading a solid steady 70 mph. From what i can tell a really good hard blip of speed seems to have freed the gears in the speedo clock or whatever was causing it to hang up.. it also worked for the full 45 mile return trip.

Fingers crossed it stays good for now...

 

For the record, I am using you as a case study and forming a flow chart covering repair procedures for confusing mechanical problems. Here's what I've got so far:

Discover that part is broken > Disassemble, and remain rather confused > Reassemble > Go fast > Fixed!